Not necessarily 21 ppg, but if he gets to play 30+ mpg like most starters do, I'm pretty confident that he could average at least 18 pts, 4 rebs, 6 ast, 1-2 stl for the rest of the season.

With Bayless, it's not about whether or not he has the talent (he has it); it's about whether or not he gets the opportunity to show that talent. It's difficult to show your talents when you only get to play 15-17 min per game and are on a short leash (as in one mistake and you're coming out or two mistakes and expect to see your minutes cut in half). You can't expect a player to flourish in a fearful environment like that (especially a player who's only 22-23 yrs old), but unfortunately that's the kind of environment he's been in nearly his entire career thus far.

Toronto has gotten absolutely nowhere with the usual starters, so they might as well let Bayless show what he can do for the rest of the season.

Mind you, Bayless doesn't get anywhere near the amount of minutes Bargnani and Derozan (who isn't all that productive considering his mpg) get, but when Bayless does get decent minutes, he usually delivers.

ask yourself the question would you want Bayless as your point on your team ???? Hence that is why most dislike his game !

So unless you're a clear cut starter you can't like someone's game or parts of it? I will say that at his age he's ahead of Jose when he was this age. That being said I don't want either to be our starter next season.

He didn't play point in Portland. Shit, he didn't play hardly at all in Portland. Frickin' Nate. Anyway, Blazers used him primarily at the backup 2 spot. Then when he got traded to Hornets the day after preseason ended, Hornets didn't know how to use him. He was 3rd string SG behind Belinelli and Willie Green.

He needs to play the 1. He is a 1. He is a hybrid 1, but he is a 1. Give him the rock, set some picks, make good cuts, and follow up his misses.

He didn't play point in Portland. Shit, he didn't play hardly at all in Portland. Frickin' Nate. Anyway, Blazers used him primarily at the backup 2 spot. Then when he got traded to Hornets the day after preseason ended, Hornets didn't know how to use him. He was 3rd string SG behind Belinelli and Willie Green.

He needs to play the 1. He is a 1. He is a hybrid 1, but he is a 1. Give him the rock, set some picks, make good cuts, and follow up his misses.

Bayless has been on a tear lately and looked completely different since he got Jose’s starting spot. He is shooting over 40 percent from the three-point line for the first time in his career and PER wise, he is the second most productive player on the team after Andrea Bargnani.

His point per possession (PPP) number has seen an increase from last season. He is also ranked top 25 in the league in isolation PPP and spot-up PPP.

His defensive numbers have also improved from last season, when he allowed 0.94 PPP. This season he is giving up 0.86 PPP. Jose Calderon’s PPP is 0.91 so far this season.

Bayless’ recent resurgence shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. He plays noticeably better as a starter then coming off the bench. Here are the starter/reserve splits from 2010/11 and 2011/12:

Bayless’ future with the team

He is not a pure point and certainly has his share of bone-headed mistakes, but he has shown that he can be a productive starter in a scoring guard role. If you compare him to Russell Westbrook, and they are obviously levels apart, their assist and turnover percentages are very similar this season.

Raptors General Manager Bryan Colangelo has publically mentioned the need for a long-term solution at the point guard position and has overlooked Bayless as a candidate. The team did not extend him, but will have the option to tender a qualifying offer, which would make him a restricted free agent this summer.

There is also increased speculation that the Raptors may make a major play at Steve Nash and it would be understandable why the team would do it. Jeremy Lin is also available on the market.

For now, Bayless has the next 21 games to convince Colangelo and the rest of the upper management that he belongs here.

Simply put, Bayless just plays much better as a starter. Yes, you give up maybe 2-3 assists a game with Bayless on the floor, but you get:

- an actual 3rd option on offense
- a young PG
- a healthier PG
- a PG who can actually run
- a PG who can penetrate opposing teams' D
- a PG who opposing PGs actually have to worry about defending
- a PG who is not horrible on D

If JB continues to start and play at the current level and improve his assists to 6.5 apg it isn't too shabby. Maybe he can be the raps' Kyle Lowry next season. Also, with a PG who can score in the starting lineup it eases the scoring burden on Jonas coming in and our draft pick. In a way I am kind of more comfortable with JB, Jose, Nash???, as the starting PG next year. SG is a major issue.

Don't kid yourself. If he continues to do what he's done the last 10 games (or even 80% of what he's done) for the remaining 21 games, he'll be offered at least $5 million a year. Marcus Thornton was on the bench in New Orleans averaging like 7 ppg for 2/3 of the season, got traded to Sacramento, averaged like 21ppg the remaining 25-30 games, and ended up signing a deal worth $7-8 mil a year.

don't remember anybody actually offering him 7, just because sacramento bid against themselves, doesn't mean we should do it

That Bulls game was at the end of last season so I put no stock into it.

We have a ton of guys on our lineup who played well against Orlando.

Derozan and Andrea have consistently had better performances against top tier defensive teams than Bayless. So no, he is not as good as them.

You're just biased against Bayless. He's an excellent player and is currently the 2nd best player on the team behind Bargnani (Derozan isn't all that good and can't do much other than dunk in transition).

You're just biased against Bayless. He's an excellent player and is currently the 2nd best player on the team behind Bargnani (Derozan isn't all that good and can't do much other than dunk in transition).

Bayless is a bench player on a lottery team. Sorry we've won more games without him against top tier teams.